Self Portrait and Portraits Part 1

Best tips for portraits:
1. Alter your perspective and completely change the angle that you shoot at.
2. Making sure the setting is right for the portrait.
3. Get closer to your subject/fill the frame.

Environmental Portraits:

I liked these two environmental portraits because of the setting. In both photos, the subjects are pictured out in nature and I think this provided a sense of peace and calm to the photos. Each photo conveys a sense of the subject(s) character and personality. The photographer was able to capture the silliness of the two men in front of the mountains and the passion of photographer of the man with the camera.

Self-Portraits:

I chose these two self portraits because they are both interesting to view and eye-catching and I liked that about them. I absolutely love the one of the young man because it was very creative the way he used the different shades of blue in his settings to match his outfit to. The portrait of the girl is beautiful because you, as the viewer, get to see her personality through the photo. It was taken in a car mirror and this suggests that she is adventurous and likes to travel, and her face shows the emotion of wonder of her surroundings.

Casual Portraits:

I liked these two casual portraits because of the emotion shown in the photos. The photo of the mother shows how much joy she has in her son. Her smile says everything in the picture and this intrigues viewer. Due to the colors, I love the portrait of the man. His blue shirt matches his eyes and this is helpful for a photo because you can learn a lot about a person through their eyes. The color of his shirt also contrasts against the background making him pop out.

My Project:

For my portrait project, I am going to shoot either my sister or a friend of mine from church in an outdoor environment. I would like to go either downtown to Zilker Park or go to a greenbelt near my home to shoot my photos. To make my photos successful I am going to take both horizontal and vertical photos. Also, I will use rules of photography like simplicity, background, cropping, and rule of thirds.

Love and Loss Warm-up

1. As I looked through the photos on the website, I felt different waves of emotions. There was some pictures that made me feel very happy and bubbly because of the subjects smiles. When I got to the end of the photo, the first emotion I experienced was sadness and regret. The photos show that the woman who was battling cancer finally lost the fight and because of this I was filled with sorrow for her and her family. Although it was sadness at first, my emotions changed to happiness because the woman was not suffering anymore.

2. The photographer said "These photographs do not define us, but they are us." After looking at the photos, this comment shows me that the husband and wife did not let the struggles of cancer get in the way of their normal life. The couple did not want to be defined by the sickness, but instead be known for the well-fought battle. Saying that the pictures do not define them but they are them, the photographer declares that they will not be bogged down by the disease, but they will not ignore it either.

3. I do not know if I would be able to shoot pictures like these if I was in the situation. I would want to document the life of a loved one, but it would be very difficult to watch the changes that occurred in him/her. In the end, I probably would shoot photos like these and they would be emotionally challenging to get, but worth it in the end.

4. If I could write Angelo a letter I would tell him how inspiring his pictures are. I would say that he did an amazing job capturing the beauty in his wife in a very difficult time. I would want to ask him how challenging it was to shoot the photos and how long the cancer lasted. The main portion of my letter would be about how beautiful and wonderful his pictures were.

Rules of Photography Part 2

Rule of Thirds

Balance

Leading Lines

Symmetry and Patterns

Viewpoint

Background

Depth

Framing

Cropping

Merger

Africa and Abandoned Theme Parks

Africa:

1. I absolutely loved looking at these pictures of animals from the African safari. My reaction to them was just sheer amazement at the natural beauty of these deserted places. I enjoyed reading about how these photos were managed to be captured and the dedication of the photographer as he waited for the perfect moment to snap a gorgeous picture of the African wildlife. Overall, the slideshow of photos grabbed my attention and held it there because they were undeniably wonderful.

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3. In this photos, a lion and a lioness are pictured in a beautiful and intimate way. They look as though they truly love one another and the male is pictured as being protective over his woman. This photo is my favorite of Nick Brandt's because of the natural beauty and innocence of the lions.

4. One rule of photography depicted in this photo is simplicity. The lions are the only things viewed in the photo, and they draw the attention of straight to them. There is also balance in the photo because there are two lions each on one side and they balance each other out.

5. Nick uses a Pentax 67II with only two fixed lenses. This is important because he does not use a telephoto lens due to the fact that he wanted more of the sky and landscape in his slideshow of pictures.

6. Nick's reason for taking these photos is to reveal the personalities of the African animals. He wants to display to the world the beauty of these barren places.

7. His hopes in taking these photos is to create an emotional connection with the viewers in conveying the African wildlife. He wanted to show how small the differences are between humans and animals.

8. "My images are unashamedly idyllic and romantic, a kind of enchanted Africa. They're my elegy to a world that is steadily, tragically vanishing." -Nick Brandt

Abandoned Theme Parks

1. Of all the abandoned theme parks I viewed, the one I would want to visit to take pictures would be Spreepark in Berlin, Germany. I liked this one for photography because not only are the park attractions amazing to look at, but the scenery is also gorgeous in the background. When I was looking at the photos of this park, I loved all the animals incorporated into the rides. Throughout the beautiful park, there was horses, swans, cats, and even dinosaurs. Back in the time when this theme park was still open, the statues of creatures would have attracted a lot of attention from children. The park and scenery combined would provide a very interesting photography opportunity.

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3.  Five other unusual places that would be of interest to photographers would include the black sand beach in Hawaii, the glass sand beach in California, Honghe Hani Rice Terraces in China, Juizhai Valley National Park in China, and abandoned hotels around the world.

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5. I think it would be fun to document the Juizhai Valley National Park in China for many reasons. For one, it is absolutely beautiful scenery and I am sure it is even more stunning in person. The area would be interesting to take photos at because the waters are so clear in the park and this makes amazing pictures. The entire park is full of undisturbed, natural beauty and it would be wonderful to capture images of it. I could expect to take photos of still water in China and the photos would come out very unique to view.

6. In order to actually take photos of the Juizhai Valley National Park, I would need quite a bit of  money for traveling due to the fact that it is in China. Because it is halfway across the world, I would need money for place tickets, transportation, food, hotels, and more. For equipment, I would need a good camera that had a very good focus. I might also need a tripod to make sure my photos do not turn out blurry. I would have to take in account for some rules about shooting a National Park. If I wanted to use any props or sets, I would need a permit and I would also need a permit for using a model in the park.